]]>http://www.gamefront.com/the-latest-humble-bundle-is-chock-full-of-pc-gaming-all-stars/feed/1Magicka: Wizard Wars Announced With New Gameplay Trailerhttp://www.gamefront.com/magicka-wizard-wars-announced-gameplay-trailer-revealed/
http://www.gamefront.com/magicka-wizard-wars-announced-gameplay-trailer-revealed/#commentsThu, 18 Jul 2013 13:29:20 +0000Ian Miles Cheonghttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=230452Magicka: Wizard Wars will see wizards blasting each other to kingdom-come with a wide array of spells.

Paradox Interactive, publisher of games and maker of zany pre-release and announcement trailers, has unveiled the first footage of Magicka: Wizard Wars in a newly released video today.

Would-be mages and spellcasters can get a glimpse of the forthcoming wizard-dueling, element-combining, electrifying action PvP title in the trailer, and see what it looks like when two groups of mages decide to turn their wands upon each other and go at it in full fledged mortal combat.

Players interested in playing the game can sign up for the forthcoming Alpha version of the game and add their names to the list of spellcasters ready for battle. Don your robes and wizard hats here.

A new update for Magicka released yesterday, adding the new Dungeons & Daemons DLC as well as a host of fixes to the game, including general stability improvements.

Some highlights include a reduction in the physical damage resistance of Enraged Goblin Warlocks, a fix for an issue with collision checks that resulted in multiple fall damage, and mobs now being able to spawn their own kind upon death. Further, the team fixed scores being inconsistent between client and host in challenges.

Magicka’s WOOT DLC released in August, free of charge, and added four new PvP maps, three new Challenge maps, 10 new Sporting Goods items, new “Athletic Techniques” magick, and new creatures.

Well well well. It seems free DLC is officially a trend. Joining the ranks of Interceptor Entertainment and CD Projekt Red, Paradox Interactive has announced that the new DLC for Magicka, the 133+$93@|< titled Magicka WOOT, will be released free of charge.

The new DLC includes 4 new PvP maps, 3 new Challenge maps, 10 new Sporting Goods items, New “Athletic Techniques” magick (which includes Performance Enchantment and the crowd-pleasing Wave), plus new creatures. Also, free. If you're already a Magicka player, then WOOT has already been added to your game.

We can't guarantee that this is a trend, but it certainly is beginning to look like the smaller developers - or at least, the European ones - are rejecting the market realities claimed by the conglomerates. Please, more of this as often as possible. KTHXBYE.

Ah, Magicka. No other game offers such devilishly rewarding team-kills. Affectionately nicknamed the “mage suicide simulator,” Magicka is one of the most amusing games I’ve seen, and the developers are looking to ramp things up further with a new DLC that allows players to take on the role of the game’s villain. Alucart isn’t just a dastardly vampire — he’s a dastardly vampire with great fashion sense.

Magicka: The Other Side of the Coin is scheduled for a digital download release on June 14th for $4,99.

Check out the trailer:

Features:

• Play as Alucart the Vampire and his henchmen, the Necromancers
• One new story challenge set among new elven architecture
• 4 new challenge maps playing as necromancers: World’s End, Volcano Hideout, OSOTC Arena and the Mirror Crystal Cavern Hideout.
• Necromancer introduced to PvP
• New achievements

Indie gameMagicka has reached its one year milestone, with 1.3 million copies sold. I still remember the first time I watched Total Biscuit and the Yogscastplay the game repeatedly accidentally kill each other in hilarious ways. Affectionately nicknamed the “mage suicide simulator,” Magicka is one of the most amusing games I’ve seen.

To mark the occasion, the developers have cooked up a new Magick that will be free for all players: the Confuse spell. I have no idea what this spell does, but I’m sure it’ll lead to countless friendly-fire incidents.

What does the future hold for Magicka? An expansion, titled “the Other Side of the Coin.” In this latest addition to the Magicka universe, slated for release later this spring, wizards will trade in their hats and robes for black capes with giant 70’s collars as they take on the role of the “bad guys” by controlling Alucart the vampire and commanding his legion of necromancers.

Paradox CEO Fred Wester is a smart guy sometimes. I really should buy more of his company’s games. Here’s what he has to say about DRM, to GameSpy.

If you’re a CEO, you need to cover your back. And the people who ask — the board — know nothing about games. They’re there because they’re some investment company or something, and they ask, ‘So what are you doing to protect our game from pirates?’ And then they can reply, ‘We’re buying this solution from Sony.’

If you take something like Sony’s DRM, SecuROM – it’s a waste of money. It will keep you protected for three days, it will create a lot of technical support, and it will not increase sales. And I know this for a fact, because we tried it eight years ago, and it never worked for us. Two major reasons: it costs money and it makes you lose money, and the other is that it’s so inconvenient to customers.

Now, I see no reasonable explanation for why people keep on adding it. Especially the kind where you have to be online all the time, like Ubisoft. I think that’s, to me that’s 2003.

Not only does he have a positive message, he also talks some trash about a competing company. I love it! We need more people like Wester in our industry.

We’ll send an email to Ubisoft to ask them if they have a return volley. No, we won’t really do that. We just aren’t cool enough to pull something like that. Or at least I’m not. I really shouldn’t disparage my co-workers like that.

]]>
Paradox head man Fredrik Wester, happy that his company had improved earnings in the digital space by 97% in 2011 — probably thanks to incessant Steam sales — believes that the future of gaming is exclusively in open platforms like the PC and phones and social networks, he said at the Paradox showcase in Stockholm this week.

The next generation of console hardware will probably be the last. I’d be surprised if we see another generation after that.

The problem with that thought is that a lot of folks like having their dedicated games machines, and they don’t want to spend a hell of a lot of money on a high-end PC that’ll be obsolete before a game console will.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/paradox-boss-the-next-console-generation-will-probably-be-the-last/feed/3Peter Moore: The Transition to Digital Delivery Will Kill Some Companieshttp://www.gamefront.com/peter-moore-the-transition-to-digital-delivery-will-kill-some-companies/
http://www.gamefront.com/peter-moore-the-transition-to-digital-delivery-will-kill-some-companies/#commentsFri, 09 Dec 2011 10:45:19 +0000Phil Owenhttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=142748But that day is a ways off.

The companies that have prepared themselves and have diversified their offerings to chase the consumer wherever they want to play games are the companies that will succeed and thrive and flourish. Companies that continue to rely on the old model as the model changes before our eyes, unless they change their ways and invest in the future those companies eventually will die off. No two ways about it.

Very bleak, Peter. Very bleak indeed. But he’s probably right. Someone will cling to the old ways too long and won’t be able to catch up. Probably. Or maybe everyone will heed this warning and no one will be left behind. Yeah!

]]>
Coming to your digital download service of choice right now is the Lovecraftian The Stars are Left DLC for Magicka. This DLC is out now for $4.99, and to mark its release, Paradox has put together a pretty weird little trailer that has no gameplay in it. But I still like it, because, as I said, it’s weird. We don’t get enough weird game trailers these days. Thanks, Paradox.

]]>
You know what’s a pretty fun game? Magicka. Hey, guess what? you can play Magicka for free all weekend long on Steam. You will play, and you will join up with your friends, and you will set each other on fire constantly (on accident, of course). It will be great, I swear.

And if you want to keep playing after the weekend, it won’t cost you much, as in addition to being free all weekend, Magicka is also the weekend deal on Steam. $2.49 gets you the game forever, and that’s basically free. It’s certainly closer to being free than it is to being expensive.

And there you are. I have done my good deed for the day telling you about this.

Hey, look, it’s a Steam sale! Paradox is having a big event right now on Steam in which every day for the next five days they’ll be offering up some of their games for an absurd price. They’re starting off today with Cities in Motion; you can get the game and all its DLC (minus the new German Cities pack) for $10. You’ll want to check back every day for more stuff.

Meanwhile, the entire Paradox catalog is on sale, too, with the Paradox pack, which gets you an unfathomable number of items, running you a mere $100. And since that pack is on sale,at means ll the individual items are also on sale. My suggestion for utmost savings: buy what you want from the daily deals, and then on the last day of the sale buy whatever else you want.

Are you in the market for some quality PC games? Well, Paradox has your back, because they’ve got a huge 50% off sale going at Amazon right now. And it’s not just the games themselves; DLC is going for 50% off, too, so if you’ve been putting off getting Magicka: Vietnam, the time has now come. Sale is here.

This is a pretty spectacular sale, and you would be remiss to not pick up something, right? I mean, that’s why your Steam library is packed with dozens of games you’ve never played, right? Buying new games at random when a sale happens is just the natural order of things.

]]>http://www.gamefront.com/giant-50-off-sale-on-paradox-games-happening-at-amazon-right-now/feed/050% Off Paradox Titles Until July 31http://www.gamefront.com/50-off-paradox-titles-until-july-31/
http://www.gamefront.com/50-off-paradox-titles-until-july-31/#commentsMon, 25 Jul 2011 20:40:28 +0000CJ Miozzihttp://www.gamefront.com/?p=112743Over 100 indie titles practically being given away -- take advantage of this offer while it lasts.

Steam isn’t your only venue for hot summer sales. Until July 31, you can buy Paradox titles for half price through GamersGate, Impulse, Amazon, and many other online retailers. That’s a huge discount on over 100 indie titles, including Magicka, Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword, King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame, Cities in Motion, and many others. The only exceptions in the sale are the recently released Supreme Ruler: Cold War and the Hearts of Iron III expansion, For the Motherland.

Indie games aren’t that expensive to begin with, so you now have no excuse for not trying out some of the hit games Paradox has released. We reviewed Mount & Blade and liked it, and $7.50 is a hard price to argue with.